Falling For You
by Wingheart99
Summary: Nat and Rosalina were the best of friends, but with Rosalina's boyfriend around they eventually lose touch. Years later Nat and Alex finally visit their aunt and uncle again, what will Nat think of his new friends, Vanessa and Lina?- Songfic
1. Chapter 1

_Inspired by John Mayer's "Free Fallin'" _

Prologue

He watched her saddle up her horse. Her soft hands flipped her golden brown hair behind her ears. She swung herself into position in the saddle on the horse's back and grabbed the baby blue reigns. Slowly she began to trot off. Small dust clouds formed behind her horse's hooves each time it stepped forward and eventually she went into a gallop passing the bush he was in and down the sunny dirt road.

_She's a good girl; loves her mama_

_Loves Jesus and America too_

_She's a good girl; crazy about Elvis_

He felt chilled to the bone even in the summer heat as he watched her stop at a nearby house. She slid off her Palomino and walked to the front door. He could feel his heart ache as the boy who lived there opened the door and both their lips met in a passionate kiss.

_Loves horses and her boyfriend too; yeah, yeah_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

2 years later…

Away from the dust, prairies, wilderness, and not a cow in sight; 16-year-old Nat Wolff chose a seat near the back of the airplane his 13-year-old brother, Alex, followed. "I don't see why we have to go anyways," his sibling complained. "Come on Alex you used to love spending the summer with Uncle Miles and Aunt Amy," Nat said. "Yeah and then I did this thing called 'grew up.'" Nat sighed at his hard-to-please little brother and took out his I pod. "Well he is right," he couldn't help thinking as he tuned to a song that suited his mood, "we haven't been to the farm in a while." Almost three years to be exact. He had always loved to spend the days there. When he was younger he had once thought about moving there when he was older, but for some reason he can't remember now he dreaded the thought of going back. The warm clear blue skies, peaceful and beautiful forestry, the soundless rippling of the lake as they waded in the late afternoons. What had happened? Why doesn't he want to go back? Nat tried his best to rummage though his memory and solve these questions himself, but he was only met by blackness. He couldn't remember anything that far back. He sighed, closed his eyes, and began to listen to "_Waiting On The World To Change."_

Reseda, home of the Grizzly Bear; "it's good to be back," he mumbled taking in a deep breath of Californian air. "What?" He turned to see Alex staring at him with a smirk. "Shut up."

Finding their luggage in the airport was easy but carrying it was the hard part, well Alex's anyway. "Dang, Alex what'd you bring in this thing?" Nat asked as he pulled the green suitcase along. "Not much just my PSP, my Game Boy, my DS, and a bunch of games for 'em, and some other stuff." "What? Alex we're supposed to be here to do things like camping and maybe some fishing, but not playing videogames on the couch okay?" Why did he act like this? He wasn't always like this he used to love doing stuff, but then he changed. The new mystery quickly faded from his mind as he saw his Uncle Miles's familiar blue truck come into his sights.

"So what you boys been up too?" Uncle Miles asked from the driver's seat. It didn't really matter to Nat what he'd left behind in Manhattan, but Alex immediately began to yap on and on about the masquerade party on the final day of school. About how he and Thomas threw water balloons at people from the roof and weren't caught and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Nat looked out the window and began planning how he was going to spend the summer and the one word he was thinking was: beach. He began to long to see the surf again and his feet began to itch to feel the stringy sand, but something else about the beach here was different than the one back home. Something that made him want to half want to run to the beach till his tennis shoes were worn to the outer layer and part of him wanted to get on the next plane back home. Was there some kind of memory he didn't or did want to face? What is with all these questions?! Nat you're tormenting yourself! Nat laid back on the seat with a sigh and let the gentle sways of the truck take him away. "So Nat what have you been doing?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

It was raining when they got to the farm. Nat looked out the window. He could see the red mud from the dirt road plastered onto the tires, but past that he could see little had changed from the country side. Besides the soaking scenery it was still as beautiful as he could remember. The brakes on the pickup squeaked to a halt as his Aunt and Uncle's house came into view.

The outside of the house was made mostly from brown wooden boards with a roof of darker plating to match. The most modern part of the house was the small cement bricks that lined the ground level.

Nat could see Uncle Miles's black and white collie, Max, sitting on the porch impatiently waiting for his master; his tail was flailing wildly as he began to bark almost madly. "Is Jake home?" Nat asked looking at the puffs of smoke coming from the cement chimney. "Sure is," Uncle Miles answered, "your aunt doesn't want anyone going out while this storm's brewing so we're all staying in tonight and doing a little smore cooking." "Cool," Alex said climbing out the truck through the passenger's door. He pulled on his Yankee baseball cap as he took his bags off the floor and ran off toward the house in the down pour. "Tomorrow if the weather's any better we're going out for a little swim in the ocean," said his uncle turning around in his seat to face him, "then on Sunday we're all going to church." Nat took a moment to think over the schedule even through he didn't disagree. After a second he nodded; a Friday at the beach and a Saturday to himself who could disagree with that?

The night went by fairly quickly. Jake, their 11-year-old cousin, was up to his old tricks again when he decided to taint Nat's bagel the next morning with hot sauce, but Nat only blamed himself for being so tired from the plane ride that to not notice the fireball from the start.

"Hey Alex want some juice?" Jake asked. He opened the fridge and took out a bottle of apple juice. Before he even got a chance to pour it in one of the glasses Alex grabbed his hand holding the bottle, "I'm allergic to apples remember? I'll just have some milk." Jake gave his older cousin a quizitive glare before turning back to the fridge to get out a carton of milk.

"Alex you set?" Nat walked into the kitchen with one of Jake's beagle puppies, Buddy, pouncing at his shoes. Alex looked up from his glass; a white mustache on his upper lip. It took him a second to figure it out, "Oh yeah; yeah. I'm all set. When we leaving?" "About an hour," Nat responded looking at his watch. There wasn't much to do during the wait either. Nat had casually dressed in an old black t-shirt with the bold white letters of: "I Love Rock & Roll!" printed out; green and white shorts; and a matching jacket.

Nat felt something different was going to happen today. Was it the same feeling he felt yesterday? He shook a cold shiver away and did the same with the thought. "You ready gang?" Uncle Miles walked in with loads of bags- each had one of their names on it. Nat reached out and took his bag; he put his cell phone inside, "now I'm ready," he said. "Be careful with your phone in there," his aunt warned, as he began to escort her outside. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm only gonna take some pictures."

Sunset; Alex held down Buddy to pose in a picture in front of Aunt Amy. Nat pretty much didn't care what Jake and Alex did anymore because he'd already been watching them almost the entire day. "Stop you're gonna hurt him, "he heard Jake say. He looked up at the small boy who was now prying his dog from his brother. Nat turned away from the confrontation and looked down at his watch; 5:40 p.m., he had 20 minutes left. What could he do in 20 minutes? He looked down at the surf; tide was coming in. If he wanted to get a little more surfing in now was the time to do it. The best waves he'd seen all day were coming to life now in his final minutes.

5:45, Nat stripped down to his swimsuit again grabbed his board. As he neared the edge of the sand the sand grew soggy and moist; the warm breeze that blew his hair back smelt of salt. He and his board hit the water in the direct path of the foamy wave.

"Hey who's that?" A small teen with long flowing black hair pointed a finger at a guy with long brown hair in the water. The other girl took notice, but quickly looked away, "another tourist," she muttered under her breath. "Yeah, but you've got to admit he is pretty hot," the black-haired replied. "Vanessa!" "What Lina you know it's true." She sighed at Vanessa and finally turned to see the 'surfer boy' ride the waves with a distinctive elegancy that she'd never seen before.

5:53, seven minutes till 'game over' they'd have to go home; Nat laid down on the beach where he thought he'd be safest from the surf and put his board down next to him. He shut his eyes and let out a breath totally relaxed. He didn't want the moment ever to end. For a moment he forgot he was on the beach and began to drift.

When he opened his eyes he could see his best friend since pre-school, Thomas Batuello was sitting in a desk next to him. Nat lifted his head and to see Mrs. Joiner looking down at him. "Detention tomorrow as well Mr. Wolff," she said, "sit up!" He sighed and slumped back in his chair as Mrs. Joiner walked back to the front of the classroom. "Don't worry, summer's nearly here bro and I'd like to see Mrs. Joiner send us to our rooms then," Thomas muttered to him. Nat scoffed then chuckled, "She'd probable figure a way." They both shared a laugh. "Mrs. Joiner there's a fight in the girl's room!" Miranda ran in the classroom barely skidding to a stop before running into the teacher's desk. Without a word Mrs. Joiner stormed outside into the hall in the direction of the girl's room to stop the reported brawl. Nat raised an eyebrow as Miranda came to sit on his desk. "So who's fighting?" he greeted with a stretch. "Stephanie's not in it is she?" Thomas asked with concern. Miranda just let out a laugh at the question. "There is no fight," she said finally, "made the whole thing up." Nat went speechless instantly. "She promised," was his only thought. Miranda had been causing small troubles throughout the school these days and all were plots so she could spend time with Nat. He thought the gestures were flattering, but finally he had come to a painful conclusion: he couldn't be with someone like her.

"Nat, baby what's wrong?" Miranda asked taking Nat's chin in her hand. He leaned away and got out of his desk. He looked into Miranda's eyes and took her hand, "Miranda I'm sorry, but it's been great all for the past few months but I just don't think we're right for each other." "But why?" Tears began to well in her eyes as she took her hand away from him. Thomas saw where it was going, but he stayed put for Nat's sake as he delivered the most hurtful words he could think of to drive her away: "I just can't be with someone like you."

Nat was so content that he didn't even hear the footsteps walking towards him. "Hey," called a girl's voice he'd never heard before. He opened his eyes to see two girls staring down at him. "What are you doing?" a girl with black hair asked. He took a second to get up and analyze before answering, "nothing just resting," he flipped his hair back causing sand to get in his eye. Nat groaned in embarrassment and began to rub one of his eyes. "Here let me help you." The black-haired girl had taken a small purple cloth out of her beach bag that she was carrying on one shoulder and took Nat's face in her hand to get a better look.

With his good-eye Nat could see the other girl standing inches away clearly. She was a little shorter than him but older. She was wearing a blue swimsuit and her hair flattened by water, but still seemed brown as it reflected the sun.

Another minute passed and finally the pain was lifted from his left eye. The girl put the cloth back into her bag. While watching her he had a thought about the 1 bag that they had and not two, but stopped himself as the girl that helped him introduced. "Hey, my name's Vanessa and that happens to me a lot so don't worry," she commented with pleasure. Nat couldn't tell if she was making fun of him or expected him to laugh to as she walked over to her companion.

"This is Lina," Vanessa said. She gave the girl a small push closer to Nat. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as the girl flipped her hair and looked at him. Her brown eyes sparkled in the reflection of the sun as she said, "Hello." He felt as through his voice was caught in his throat. Who was this mystery girl? She reminded him of one of his friends, but seeing her blurred the image. "H-hi," he managed to choke out. "So where's your tour group?" she asked. He looked at her slightly confused, "I'm not a tourist," he said, "my brother and I are spending the summer here. We used to spend every summer here, but we've been busier with our band lately and well, it's good to be back." Nat chuckled and he was happy to see Lina do the same. Back home none of the guys ever got his lame jokes.

He looked behind her curiously as he saw Vanessa begin to back away. Now what is she doing? Was this some sort of plan or was Vanessa acting on her own. Nat looked into Lina's eyes and quickly saw the answer.

A few feet away, hiding behind a car; a shaggy haired teen narrowed his eyes at the scene playing out in front of him. A young, tall guy scratched the back of his neck in anxiety and said, "No I'm not a tourist…" "Not a tourist, eh?" he grunted under his breath. Who does he think he is? He shook his head and walked off, already knowing what he was looking for.

"So your name's Lina?" he asked. She gave a small smirk that turned into a laugh, "no, no my name is-" "Nat time to go!"

Nat looked up the sand hill to see his uncle looking down at him. He looked down at his watch, 6:00. Heaving out a sigh he said, "look I'm sorry, but I've gotta go." "It's okay," she said. Nat searched the girl's eyes for disappointment, but he only felt his own when he found no emotion, one so ever, in the girl. He quickly shrugged off the feeling to not obtain any time-costing questions. "So what's your real name then?" "Nat! Come on." Nat looked up at his uncle again; this time he seemed serious.

Nat sighed; "I'm sorry, but I have to go." "Bye; my-" "Look I'm sorry, but I have to go," he repeated, backing away. He turned away from her and began to run up the hill, "Bye," he yelled when he was at the top. The brown-eyed teen looked up at him and mouthed: "bye" before turning and leaving for the direction Vanessa had taken; this time disappointment clearly in her eyes.

_It's a long day living in Reseda_

He opened the driver's door and climbed into the backseat of the truck. "You could've at least waited until I was done talking to her!" he yelled. "Oh, no what happened?" Aunt Amy asked. Nat gave his uncle a cold look then turned to look out the window.

_There's a freeway running through the yard _

Looking at the truck drive away he scoffed: "good riddance." "Hey, dude what are you up too?" One of his buddies walked up to him. "Hey Garrison; not much," he greeted. "So dude look I was thinking we can go down to volleyball court. And I know your ex is gonna be there, but still I think-" "Hey, you see that truck?" he pointed at the shiny blue Honda brand that had just about disappeared over the horizon, "there's a guy in there maybe about 14 or15 or something and I want you to watch him." Garrison nodded. "And if you see anything that'll tick me off you know what to do."

"I know you wanted to talk to her Nat, but that girl looked a lot older than you do and you're not ready to be around people that age," his Uncle Miles had said. "Fine," Nat mumbled as he sat up on his bed, "if he doesn't want me to be around people older than me than I won't." He went over to his window and opened it. He climbed out onto the roof, jumped off, and took off into a run.

_And I'm a bad boy 'cause I don't even miss her_

_I'm bad boy for break-in her heart _

It was Saturday morning, the day his aunt and uncle promised he could have to himself. Nat ran down a path that led to the forest behind the house. Lina's eyes continued to cut through his thoughts like a saw. There was something about her he just couldn't put his finger on. There was something special, but he just couldn't put into words what it was. There was something about her that made him want to go look for her and ask her anything that came to mind, but the feeling that he had at the moment he couldn't put into words; a feeling that he had never had for anyone or anything before.

Breathing hard, he stopped at one of the trees that bordered the dock. He looked out at the water. The sun's rays caused the beads of water to look like crystals from a distance. This was the place he loved most when something was on his mind. He took off his shirt and made a running jump for a rope hanging on a nearby tree in a distance.

He did a couple of backstrokes in the water and tried to have fun like he always did when he had the lake to himself, but his thoughts kept going back to Lina and Vanessa. What was it about them that was confusing? He barely knew them. For all he should care it was another couple of girls falling all over him with his shirt off. But was it just the mood of the beach? His thoughts suddenly went to one of those internet couple finder things where the term 'long walks on the beach' was terribly over used. He asked himself what would've happen if Uncle Miles hadn't come to get him, but didn't come up with a clear answer at all.

An hour passed; he went back to the shore and laid down. He just wanted to forget everything and just start over but he knew it wasn't likely to happen. Suddenly he heard footsteps pounding in a run; a second later two girls burst through the foliage in a storm of laughter and giggles. They both ran full speed down the dock and leaped off. He knew immediately who it was: the long flowing hair and unforgettable face that haunted his every movement. It was her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

"Nat, honey you okay?" "Huh?" Nat looked up at his aunt a little dazed. It was nearing the end of June and nothing much had changed in his life. Were Jake and Alex still fighting over Buddy: yes! Was Thomas still begging him to come back before the end of summer vacation: yes! Were the two girls he'd seen at the beach still well-

"Hey! What are you doing here?" called Vanessa. Nat had been watching them, but not attempting to go over and drive a conversation. He felt a little sick as Vanessa and Lina climbed out of the water and were walking toward him.

"What are doing here?" asked Lina. "My aunt and uncle live right up the road, why?" He looked at the brown-eyed girl for a moment then turned away. "I-I mean we were just wondering," she said, "we come here almost every day during the summer. We live up the road too." Nat cocked his head to the side. Okay, this was getting way to weird: his uncle usually didn't care who he hung out with, but he'd made it pretty clear about them; and they kept showing up in his life with coincidences that he thought couldn't be real.

"So what's your name? We're sorry but we never got a chance to catch it," Vanessa said. He cleared his throat before answer, "Nat." Vanessa gave him a comical look that he couldn't help but smile at. "Nat? Is that short for something?" Vanessa asked. He brushed some of his wet hair out of his face, "Yeah, Nathaniel."

"Well, I think Nat is adorable," said a small voice. Nat looked up in surprise to see Lina with a far away look in her eyes. She was staring at the tops of a few pine-like trees but he wasn't sure if that's what she really saw. He could tell she knew he was looking at her when her face began fade into a red color that slowly became more and more apparent. "I got to go put on suntan lotion," said Vanessa looking at her arm closely, "if I don't I'll fry." She ran off through a few of the trees to where she and Lina had probably left their things.

Suddenly there was silence. The only sound was a bird squawking in a distance and their own apparent breathing. He didn't jump to break the silence at all; he didn't even try to meet her gaze. Instead he stared at the lake. The still water didn't entertain him at all as the minutes began to tick by, but he didn't let off. Finally what seemed like an eternity he forced himself to meet her gaze. She was looking down at the moment at her feet as she played around with a stray blade of grass with her toes.

"Lina?" he didn't have a clue what he was going to say, but he was hoping it would just flow out. She looked up at him at the sound of her name and narrowed her eyes, "my name is not Lina," she said, "Nessa only calls me that." Nat blinked in surprise; he had heard the name so frequently from Vanessa that it had never accord to him to ask her if it was her real name. "Than what is your name?" he asked. The girl walked up to him and held out her hand, "my name is Rosalina Alexandra Tai and you are-" He reached out to touch her hand in a handshake, "Nathaniel Marvin Wolff, but everyone just calls me Nat." She smiled as they shook hands. "Well just Nat where are you from," she asked, her smile yet to fade. He smiled back at her, "cute, but I'm from Manhattan, New York, born and raised." "I actually was born in Connecticut, but my dad got a job and we've been moving around a lot since I was a year old, but after a little negotiation he convinced his boss to at least let him stay in one area until me and my older brother, Josh, are both in college." He stared at her in disbelief, "Josh; the same Josh that was in my first band in Manhattan, 'The Silver Boulders?'" "I don't know," she admitted, "Josh is only my stepbrother so I've only known him since I was like 8-years-old and I can't even really remember him back then." He raised and eyebrow, "I've got the same problem. That's a little weird." "Not really," she said in a solemn manner. "So what do your mom and dad do?" he asked changing the subject.

There was another awkward silence. "My mom died when I was a year old," she said in a whisper. Nat's jaw dropped; how much had this girl been through? Moving around, forced to transfer from school to school, making new friends; how did this girl keep track of herself? He moved closer to her and over-powering his senses, wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he whispered back. "It's been hard. I was only a year so I don't remember anything about her." Her voice was starting to go sober signaling she was starting to cry. "And my dad has been married four times-" "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!" Nat stopped her, "your dad's been married four times?" He looked down at her, she still had tears running down her face; "your dad's been married four times?" he repeated. She nodded; "Josh's mom was third. Surprisingly after a year and ½ he grew really attached to my dad and decided to stay when our parents split." "His mom must have been devastated," said Nat. "Not really," Rosalina shook her head, "I don't think she ever liked him, he didn't like her that's for sure, but I guess it had to do with him being her ex-husband's son. "That's rough," he mumbled, "but I wouldn't know what that would be like since my mom died when I was 4-years-old."

She looked at him astonished, "what?! Why didn't you tell me?" "I am telling you," he said with a laugh. "Nat this is no joke. It really hurts when I talk about my mom and I'm not just going to stand hear and make jokes." With anger in her eyes she turned and stalked off. "Hey wait," he called running after her. "I'm not joking," he said. He couldn't let her go now. Not after everything that he'd discovered about her that connected him to her. He knew there was something about this girl and that only made him even more determined to catch her.

He grabbed her arm when he was within arm reach and stood in front of her. "Look what I said back there was the truth," he started, "my mom did die when I was four. You can even ask my little brother, ok he might have been 1, but he knows we had a mama that was taken away from us." He looked down not wanting to meet her eyes, but she took his chin in her hand and said, "Nat I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I just have forgotten that I'm not the only person that can have something taken away, way too soon."

Nat looked up at the sunny blue sky. He'd been meeting Rosalina almost every day at that very same spot with Vanessa for the pass few weeks. During the time he'd got a chance to get to know them really well. He had learned that Rosalina could play seven different instruments and speaks three different languages: Spanish, French, and Portuguese; and for Vanessa she hated carrots a lot and she loved to just chill with friends, she hated uptight people which he clearly saw when she overheard a man in the mall on the phone, she spent the rest of the day taking about him.

His uncle and aunt didn't know about all that, but what they did know was he was spending time with someone or ones they hadn't seen and it was making him happy so they didn't ask much about it.

Nat really didn't know why they made him so happy. Back home he had tons of friends, girls and guys. What was so different about them? Maybe it was just the California heat getting to his head. New York surely wasn't as hot right now. Suddenly he decided to push everything away and just began to enjoy the silence.

He stayed on the porch listening to the birds and squirrels carrying on in a distance until he heard his uncle. "Nat," Uncle Miles called, "if you're coming get a move on!" Nat didn't wait a second more as he leaped off the porch's stairs and ran full speed for the truck.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Alex POV

"Not like that. Reel it back in; let it go out a little farther in the deeper water, where the big fish are," Uncle Miles advised Alex. Alex began to reel in the line slowly. He didn't even like fish. Why did they have to drag him here? He could be back in Manhattan playing _'Guitar Hero'_ in their air conditioned apartment instead of the sweaty lake.

"Yeah like this Alex." He turned to see Jake holding up a silver-scaled fish, maybe Trout. "That's my boy," Alex's uncle said. He turned to Alex holding the fish by a hook ending somewhere inside its body; its eyes were starting to bulge in and out as it gasped for its final breaths. Alex stepped away from the thing feeling a little light-headed. "You see Alex," Uncle Miles was telling him, "all it takes is a little practice." Alex felt as though he was turning green as he quickly thought of a plan to get out of the rest of the fishing trip.

"Can I go see what Nat's doing?" he asked hiding his anxiety of the fish. Nat had gone off on his own a while ago and hadn't come back yet. Uncle Miles narrowed his eyes, "Sure, he said he was going upstream where it was quiet. I guess you can go to if you want." Alex looked in the direction Uncle Miles had said Nat had disappeared and saw his brother no where in sight. Shrugging off the weird feeling the fish had given him he began to walk back to the bank. Alex could hear his uncle call to him from the dock in a distance, "don't scare his fish away too!" Alex stared ahead feeling his anger begin to pulse through him, "yeah, and maybe I will."

A soft giggle passed on the wind and the sound of a splash of water, but the clear, shallow part of the lake remained still. That didn't sound like Nat, but Uncle Miles said he was here. Alex ducked into the trees and looked around and with a small gasp he saw _them._

Nat POV

Nat threw another rock into the lake hoping to get a skip out of it. No luck; the rock sunk straight to the bottom on the first slightest contact with the water. He sighed, "I'm just no good," he said. "Nonsense, just a little practice will do you good," Vanessa replied. He looked a few feet away at Rosalina; even she was at least getting a skip. He hadn't gotten one. She took another rock from the small pile she'd collected and threw it. The stone slowly skimmed the air and dropped once, twice, three times.

"Hey, Rosalina?" Rosalina looked up at the sound of her name. "Why don't you show him some of your skills?" Vanessa called out. Rosalina stood and looked at her for a moment as if she were thinking about it. Did she want to help him? Did Rosalina even want to be his friend? Nat could recall several moments during the past few weeks that she had made it clear that she didn't want to be in contact with him. Anger began to surge through him like lightning as Rosalina came over; fine if she doesn't want to be my friend she doesn't have to be!

"Okay, Rosalina can you teach him?" Vanessa asked. Rosalina looked at Nat with the same non-emotional look she always had and slowly began to nod. Vanessa must've not even notice the vibe feelings that Nat had or the ones Rosalina's facial expression lacked of, "I'm not as good either so I can't be of any good," she was saying, "I'll be reading my magazine if you need me." And she was gone, she ran in the direction she'd left her black and white beach blanket. 'Typical Vanessa' was Nat's only thought why'd she always leave him alone with 'her'?

"Are you ready?" Nat turned when he heard the aggressive voice and saw Rosalina standing nose-to-nose with him. He narrowed his eyes; that was the final straw. "What is the matter with you!" he exploded. Her eyes grew big for a moment then ceased as well, "what are you talking about?" she asked. "Oh, like you don't know. What is up with you?" "What is up with what?" Rosalina made a face at him, "I don't have a clue what you're talking about." She hadn't even raised her voice. Did she even know?

Nat took a breath to relax, "Okay, do you want to be my friend?" he looked away, not wanting to look at her. "What? Nat why would you think that we aren't friends." Rosalina walked over to him and put her hand on his cheek. Nat shivered at the simple touch and moved away. "Nat I am your friend," she insisted. "Oh really," he wanted to change the subject as fast as possible and forget the whole thing had ever happen. "Nat this is stupid. I am your friend." "Then why don't you show it Rosalina. You never want to hangout with me unless Vanessa is here." Nat's voice went hush and he closed his eyes to stop the horrible stare she was giving him, but when they opened she was still there of course.

"What do you mean?" she mumbled. The anger in her eyes had gone just as a dry leaf in the wind. Why did he even bring it up? Rosalina was a sweet girl and if he challenged her for being anything other than that maybe he was the one being a bad friend. Nat looked down in defeat, "I'm sorry," he said. He could hear Rosalina as she neared him and less than a second later again she took his chin in her hand and they were face-to-face.

"Nat, when you think of the word 'friend' what do you think of?" she asked in a voice almost too small to hear. He blinked in surprise at the change in events. "A friend?" he asked. He looked in her eyes and saw nothing but gentleness as she nodded. Nat bit his lip for a second in thought. "A friend is someone who helps you, who cares about you, and, um well-" His voice began to trail, he tried turning from her slightly embarrassed by the kindergarten-aged question, but she had his gaze firmly locked.

She suddenly smiled with a sense of pleasure and satisfaction in her eyes. "See," she said, "there are all kinds of friends because everyone's different." Nat couldn't help but smile. Where had this side of her been hiding all this time? For a moment he'd forgotten everything that had changed his mind about her in the short time they'd known each other and just placed this very moment.

He laughed at how nervous he'd been before and it became one of those 'friends-goofing-around- moments.' Finally the sound of Rosalina's laughter became silent, but the humor in her eyes remained. Nat followed her lead, but said nothing. Soon the lake was quiet again. It was as if they weren't even there. There eyes were glinting at each other but both remain silent grinning ear-to-ear.

Alex POV

'Okay, gross?' were the only words Alex could think of to call the scene in front of him. His brother with a girl, an actual girl? It was hard to believe since he'd broken up with Miranda like a week before school ended. Nat had been devastated and had admitted it had been hard to let her go, but he said he had been forced to since he wasn't into bad girls and when it came to bad she was starting to rank number one. When Nat and the rest of the basketball team were in the gym practicing she pulled the fire alarm; and it was pretty creepy why.

Alex shivered out of his thoughts. He had never liked the thought of his brother dating her. He looked at the girl Nat was talking to. So far he'd had an argument and made-up with her in about 7 or 8 minutes and Alex hadn't even seen her face yet.

Who was she? The girl flipped her brown hair behind her ear, as every girl did, as they stared at each other in silence. Alex began to get this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked disgusted at them. The look they were giving each other was making him sick. He suddenly ducked away when he stepped on a twig.

Nat and the girl looked in his direction but apparently saw nothing more than the trees as they turned back to each other, but Alex had seen more than enough. As silently as he could he turned and went back the way he came without looking back.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

It was midnight. Alex crept down the stairs careful to not hit any squeaking boards. When he got downstairs the living room was black, if someone was present with him he wouldn't know. But the horrifying thought didn't stop Alex as he sat down on the couch and turned on a lamp.

The room went suddenly dim. Alex grabbed the phone on the lamp table and began to dial. He waited a couple of seconds until he heard a tired voice on the other line. "Hey David," he said in a low tone, "she's back."

Nat

Nat woke up rubbing sleep from his eyes. It was Sunday morning and today was one of those days where he didn't have many plans. Besides church, Vanessa had been grounded for some reason he didn't no about and surprisingly enough Rosalina had asked him to come down to the lake later to teach him more about rocks. Sounds weird doesn't it?

He sat up in his bed and looked around extra guest room which was now his. He had been wanting to put a few posters up but never had the time. Well, today was perfect but there was a problem: what posters to put up?

He had a few from his favorite bands like _Lincoln Park_ and _Nickelback_, but that was it. Nat had always felt there should be more variety when decorating that's why in his room at home he had put up tons of stuff like drawings, pictures- 'Pictures' that was it! He could put up pictures of Alex, Jake, and even his friends back home: Thomas, Qaasim, and David. He got out of bed suddenly having tons of ideas.

Rosalina

"So what do you think Christen?" Rosalina held up a plain baby blue shirt in one hand and a bedazzled pair of jeans in the other. Her fluffy ginger kitten on her bed rolled onto her back and put one front paw into the air. Rosalina laughed for a second then turned to her Yorkshire puppy who was lying down on a pillow, "How 'bout you Princess?" She barked at her name and sat up.

Princess's short fur gave the full effect of her small pink jeweled collar as she jumped off the pillow in the chair making the jewels cast light shadows on the walls, which Christen began to chase. Her friends had always commented to her that just because she's a girl doesn't mean she has to like pink so much that most of the things she buys for her pets are that color, but she does.

She'd been struggling to find an outfit good enough to call perfect for about an hour but nothing seemed just right to her. Maybe she needed a human's opinion to give her a strike of hope that everything will go well and better than _last_ time.

"Rosalina?" Kayla's familiar voice came from the line on the phone, "Why haven't you been calling me lately? Look I got something to tell you, you won't believe." "Okay, Kayla but first you have to let me talk. I've got a problem that you- just promise me Kayla not to remind me about the past."

Alex

Alex was in the bathroom getting ready for church. He had decided to go a little casual and dressed in a black suit and tie. He combed through his hair and after a quick look over he was done.

As he walked out he saw his brother sitting on the couch. He was wearing his grayish suit and had a digital camera in his hands fumbling around the buttons. "What are you doing?" asked Alex. Nat glanced from Alex to the camera as he closed what ever he was looking at and turned to him. "Nothing much; why?" He seemed a bit edgy as if he were hiding something.

Alex quickly thought back and remembered how Nat was always leaving and every time he'd ask there was a quick change of subject. "Nothing I was just wondering," he replied when he should've been saying, _I know._

Nat

Nat filed in the line into the church. Alex, Jake, and his aunt and uncle were only a few people ahead. He had been a little late getting out of the truck because his stupid suit had gotten caught and now a bit of his sleeve was torn. His Aunt Amy wasn't gonna like it when he told her, he figured he could try to fix it himself or make it worse.

The first few rows were completely full when Nat finally got in and it wouldn't be long before people began taking over the rest. He scanned the crowd for his family but didn't see them any where. None of the faces he saw around him looked familiar to him. He turned when people began to bump into him and began to make his way out of the church.

Getting lost at a church: check!

Nat sat down on a small wall that bordered one of the flower gardens. He could've found them if he wanted to but something about him and his family in church didn't mix to him at the moment. He was changing. At the beginning part of him didn't even want to come here now he couldn't even bare the thought of leaving. Something was driving him to stay; something that embarrassed him every time he came to think of it.

Nat sighed and took his I pod out of one of his pockets thinking music could settle his mind until someone came looking for him. He quickly skimmed through his playlist until he found the song he was looking for, _"Your Guardian Angel."_

Alex sat down next to Jake and looked around. "Hey Uncle Miles where's Nat?" he asked. Uncle Miles looked at the line just as he had and shrugged, "if he thinks he gonna miss church he's out of his mind. Go find him." Alex got out of his seat and began to make his way though the line of people the wrong way. He could hear his cousin whine behind him. He was sitting next to Aunt Amy, "I want to go to," he was saying, but each time his request was deigned by his uncle. Alex didn't look back as he past a man and women with two little girls went outside into what was now blistering heat.

Nat sighed, "Yeah, yeah," he muttered to himself. He turned off his I pod and shoved it back into his pocket. So far listening to it hadn't helped him one bit. It had only made angry at himself. He suddenly tensed as a thought came to his mind, why didn't he tell her when he had a chance?

"Hey!" Her voice rang from the line with distinctive enthusiasm. He laughed, "So what are you doing?" She paused for a second, "uh nothing important." Her voice sounded a little nervous making curiosity get to him. "Come one," he said, "if you're doing it than it must be important." "Not really," she said hiding a laugh. "Then what is it?" "I'm, uh, just picking out clothes," she said quickly. "You sure," he teased. "And asking my cat and dog on their opinion." "Talking to animals: the second sign of craziness!" He began to laugh so hard he began to turn red the same and she followed.

After a minute he heard the voice of a woman in the background. "Your mom?" he guessed. "Uh, yeah; I've gotta go, talk to you later okay?" He listened to her voice silently deep in thought for a second. "Bye." "Wait, I've got some-" he started, but it was too late she had already hung up. He stood there for seconds that turned into minutes staring down in disappointment at the phone in his hand that now held nothing more than static.

Nat through another rock a couple of feet, he had taken out his I pod again and was now listening to _"Crush." _He could see a woman with a small boy, probably her son, getting out of a car. As soon as the 3 or 4 year old hit the ground he began to run and jump around and had to be caught by his mom. For a second he envied him. Not a care in the world, always having simple problems to talk about, and not these situations where you had to go behind people's backs to get what you want. He looked up at the clear, empty blue sky with a sigh. "And why do I keep running from the truth," he repeated the lyrics aloud, "all I ever think about is you. You got me hypnotized so mesmerized and I just want to know…" He felt a light tap on his shoulder and one of his ear buds was pulled out and held up in his face. "Crush?" teased an all too familiar voice.

Alex peered into the driver's window of the truck and saw no one. "Where is he?" he mumbled to himself. He'd been looking every where for what seemed like hours. Where his brother had gone, he'd gone and now was surely in trouble.

Alex walked back to the church struggling to think of something to tell his aunt and uncle without giving Nat away but of course came up with nothing. As he walked up the stairs leading to the doors he could already hear the choir singing, it wasn't a song he recognized, but he heard something else. A guy's voice, but he couldn't make out his exact words under all the noise. Alex walked back down the stairs and went to the side of the church, near the garden and immediately heard the unbearable words he'd been dreading all summer.

"So aren't you gonna say 'hi'?" Nat looked up at Rosalina, who was surprisingly in a good mood today, with a smile. "Hi," he said, "uh not trying to be rude, but what are you doing here?" Rosalina suddenly frowned then gave him a small smile. "You know Nathaniel Marvin Wolff," she teased, "you're not the only one who can go to church you know." Nat tried to hold back a chuckle but couldn't, "I should've never told you whole name," he joked. "Then how would we be friends," she asked, laughing as well. "With a lot more seriousness I hope." "Well it's too late for that!" They both held their breath for a second to stop a flood of laughter but the weird look she was giving him only made it worst and he gave.

"Okay, okay," Rosalina said finally, again breaking up one of their moments. "Okay, I've got a question for you Nat Wolff, why are you listening to _"Crush"_?" Nat then noticed she was still holding one of his ear buds and just like her's, his face began to turn red but not from laughing. "I, uh, um-" He swallowed completely embarrassed by his choice.

Rosalina laughed at the sight of him then sat down next to him on the garden wall. "Its okay, Nat there's nothing wrong with a guy listening to another guy sing. Nat sighed in relief at Rosalina's assumption. "You won't tell anyone will you," he asked.

The little boy and his mom he'd seen earlier walked in the building. The little boy was caring on about something and Nat was able to catch some of it. "But mommy," he was saying, "I want to see daddy. When is he coming home?" "Very soon sweetie, his shift in the war is almost over and when he comes home he'll be able to play with you all day," his mom promised. As they went inside Nat was sure he caught a hint of what seemed like worry. "That's sad," Rosalina muttered once they had gone. "I know," Nat replied, "Being so far away from the one you love and not knowing every night that there among the living." "I'm glad I can be with the one I love," Rosalina mumbled to what seemed to be herself. Nat turned to look at her, "why didn't you tell me?" he asked lowly. "Tell you what?" asked Rosalina slightly confused. "About him," Nat looked down at his shoes that his aunt had picked out for him. "Who, Nat?" she asked. "The one you love, your boyfriend. Why haven't I met him? I thought I was your friend." Rosalina took his cheek in her hand and turned him to face her, "because you know him." Nat felt a little light-headed as he tried to choke out, "who?" Rosalina gentling allowed her forehead to touch his as she said, "you idiot, it's you." And she pressed her lips to his.

_And I'm free; free fallin', fallin'._

_And I'm free; free fallin', fallin'._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Nat stood in the mirror in his favorite Beatles shirt with a new pair of jeans he'd bought the day before. It was Tuesday night and he hadn't seen Rosalina since the kiss last Sunday. And tonight was the night, the night of the dance at one of the neighbors. It was strictly for kids and teens so his aunt and uncle would only drop Jake, Alex and him off.

He had bought a small teddy bear from a toy store when he took Jake. He had had a hard time keeping him quiet but soon it wouldn't matter. He had decided to tell Uncle Miles before anything else happened and hoped that he wouldn't kill him.

"_All vampires walk-in though the valley, they move west down Ventura Boulevard." _

"I know, okay." Nat looked in the doorway and saw Alex. "Know what?" he asked. "I know you kissed her," Alex said. He stared at his younger brother for a few seconds slightly stunned, "how do you know?" he asked. "I saw. I can't believe you- her of all girls? Why-" "Look I know already, she's older and Uncle Miles doesn't like her, but you got to promise me man that you won't tell," Nat blurted out. Alex stared at him. Nat expected to see anger in his eyes but instead what he saw confused him. His brother's brown eyes usually bright were now clouded with a mysterious darkness. Was he against him? "Alex I-" "Save it," Alex waved his hand in front of his face to stop him, "save it, dude. Aunt Amy says we're leaving so let's go." Alex grabbed for Nat's shirt but Nat jumped back. "Okay I'm coming, sheesh." Nat grabbed his jacket from the couch as they headed out. He held the door open for everyone as they walked out of the house and for a second he was sure he saw a hint of something present in Alex's face. Nat blinked just to make sure he was seeing correctly, but was that regret?

Nat could hear music blaring loudly as he entered the room. There were countless people up dancing, but a few stuck to walls and corners talking. Most of the kids there seemed to be at least a few years younger than him, he considered by height. Nat followed Alex and Jake to a nearby table.

"Hey, I'm gonna walk around a bit outside, okay?" Nat said as Jake and Alex took seats. "Sure," Alex replied, "But don't be long, you promised you'd help me watch him." "I don't need watching," Jake argued. "Do to," Alex smirked. Nat walked away from the confrontation without them noticing.

Nat walked outside and looked around. It was dark. He clutched one of his backpack straps in his hand nervously. "Where is she," he thought as he took off his backpack and clutched his precious cargo.

"_And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows." _

"Hey!" Nat felt a hard object hit his back and he turned. He blinked, within seconds he was surrounded. He struggled to get a look at all of their faces. All of them seemed to be older than him but he couldn't really tell in the brutal darkness that even the moonlight couldn't break. He felt cold as he pressed against the brick wall behind him. A dirty blonde approached him casually. He was wearing what seemed a navy blue t-shirt. He stood face-to-face with him, so close that his breaths blew his hair. "Who do you think you are?" he asked. Nat wanted to run, something didn't seem right here. The way these guys were staring at him, eyes narrowed, muscles tensed; it all just didn't seem right. "Listen, I don't appreciate guys mess'in with my girl," the dirty blonde teen said. "He has to mean Rosalina," Nat thought instantly. Anger and terror came over him instantly. She had lied to him, given his hopes and just threw them away. Nat could feel hot tears run down his face as he muttered, "I thought she loved me."

Alex POV

Alex carried two glasses of juice to the table. "Nat gotten back yet?" he greeted. Jake shook his head. "Where is he?" Alex thought, "he promised he'd be back by now." If he didn't go look now he might not be back in time for them to go. Alex sighed in annoyance. "Jake, we're going to find Nat," he said. Jake's face went hard with stubbornness, "I don't want to go," he said. Alex didn't have time for another argument. "Why don't you stay here," he said looking down at his watch. Jake stared at him as if he were in a daze for a few seconds. Surprisingly he got out of his chair and in a small voice said, "No thanks." Alex raised an eyebrow and gave him a questioning look but Jake only walked away in silence.

Rosalina POV

Rosalina and Vanessa walked to Sheiteya's house talking. Vanessa had been just let off grounding but she was still her prank-loving self. "You think he'll notice," Rosalina asked Vanessa, ginning. "Na probably will take a while if he's like most guys," Vanessa replied. "He's not," Rosalina promised. She took the lead as they neared the party. "You know I knew he was perfect for you since we first saw him but I didn't think-" Oh, my gosh!" A look of terror came over Rosalina's face. Vanessa stopped, "what is it Lina?" she followed her gaze and gasped, "Nat!"

Alex POV

Alex took Jake's hand as he pulled him in his direction, but he snatched it away. "What?" "I don't need someone to hold my hand," Jake said. "Well fine," Alex replied, "but why don't you act your age?" Jake's voice was stunned with shock, "What! I do so act my age," he raised his voice. "No you don't, like on Sunday when you were wining." "I did not. I ain't ever wined in my entire life," said Jake. Alex opened his mouth to counter the argument but stopped as he heard yelling and screams. "W-what's happening?" Jake asked, his anger forgotten. Alex didn't reply as he ran ahead. "Matthew stop!" Alex heard the yell and immediately was sent flashbacks.

"It's okay," Alex comforted, "just forgive and forget." Nat looked away, "how?" he asked coldly. "This'll never work," Alex thought. Nat buried his face in his hands then looked up; his eyes so- something that gave Alex goose bumps. Nat got up and opened the front door, "Alex you know what?" he asked, "I will forget it, I will. I'll forget her, this place, and just never come back; but I ain't forgiving anybody!" He slammed the door behind him.

Could time repair anything?

Alex watched horror-stricken as Rosalina knelt down over his brother, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry Nat," she was saying, "I'm so sorry." A black-haired girl was right beside her and slowly began to help him up. Alex braced himself to run but a hand grabbed his shoulder from behind. He turned and in surprise met his uncle's gaze. "U-Uncle Miles," he said, startled. He looked up at his brother and his two saviors with an expressionless look.

Alex followed him and in a distance could see a group of guys, possibly a gang, walking off. Had they done this? Alex looked back at his brother, who was now on his feet, and saw he had a few bruises here and there and his hair was all messed up but other than that he seemed fine. He squinted his eyes in the moonlight. Eyes red and trying to keep Nat balanced he could see both girls as they steadily moved toward them.

"_And the good girls are home with broken hearts."_

"And when were you planning on telling us," Uncle Miles continued. They were in the truck heading back home. Rosalina had asked to come along and have her parents pick her up. Now she sat next to Nat, resting her head on his shoulder as she listened to the yelling they had caused. "And you Miss Rosalina have you even told you parents?" She was about to answer but Nat stopped her. "Could you please leave her out of this Uncle Miles, it's not her fault," he said. "I know, it's both your faults. And the gang, Nat I expected more from you."

'I'd expect more from _you_,' Nat repeated in his thoughts. He looked down at her as his uncle ranted on, totally blocking him out, and nudged her with his shoulder. She had lied to him; she had a boyfriend. She looked up at him, eyes beginning to cloud with sleep. "Hey," he whispered, "we need to talk." Even in the darkness he could see her unmistakable smile before she nodded and shut her eyes. He looked down at her with a smile on his face but worry in heart, hoping she couldn't read his thoughts, "how could Alex do this to me."

Nat POV

"You need help?" Nat gave Rosalina the bag of ice and she put it on his throbbing wrist. He shifted on the porch step as she sat down. "You okay?" she asked. Nat looked up at the stars. "You know," he said, "you can never see stars like that in Manhattan; too many lights." "Well we get them every night here," she mumbled. He looked at her; she was focused on keeping the ice directly on his hand and didn't notice. "I know okay," he muttered. She looked up at him, "know what?" "That you have a boyfriend." Nat forced himself to hide his eyes from hers. "Nat are you okay?" she asked, worried, "I'm sorry about what happened." He could feel a sudden twinge of annoyance. "You lied to me!" he exploded, "you said you didn't have a boyfriend, but you do!" "I did no such thing, he's my ex!" she defended herself. Nat stood up suddenly to uncomfortable to sit next to her. "Nat look at me," she said in almost a hushed tone. He grunted and turned to her. In the bright light from inside the house he saw her. Eyes gentle and only on him; golden hair flowing a night breeze. Nat focused on her, eyes wide. And at that moment he realized he'd seen her before, but where?

His chestnut began to slow down as he neared the stable. He could feel his sides heaving under him. "It's okay Caballo," he soothed, "you're home."

Within minutes he had fully unsuited his horse. He led Caballo into his stall and he almost immediately began munching pellets as He rubbed the horse's mane.

As he walked outside he could here feet pounding in a run. He ducked into a bush. And he saw her. She ran into the stable hall and quickly retrieved Dreamer, her Palomino horse, to saddle her up.

Nat's eyes clouded. "It's you," he murmured, "the hold time it's been you and I had no idea." Rosalina looked up at him through baffled eyes, "what in the world are you talking about?" "Don't pretend like you don't know!" he yelled, "two years ago I was 14, you were 16, we were best friends. And then he came in the picture and," his voice cracked, "I loved you and you went after that- that," he sighed not being able to put it in words and took off running.

Rosalina POV

Rosalina wiped tears from her eyes as she watched him go. "It's all your fault you know." She turned to see Nat's younger brother glaring at her. His eyes lowered and he crossed his arms. "Why did you even come?" he scowled. Rosalina wasn't sure if it was a question to answer, but Alex's expression told her at once. Slowly she began to nod as she looked back to at her childhood friend, the gap in puzzle she struggled to solve now with disappointment. "This wasn't suppose to happen."

Nat POV

Nat climbed up the ladder of his old tree house, ignoring the pounding of his aching wrist. He immediately was introduced to memories as he stepped inside. He and Alex had been sitting on the patterned rug when Uncle Miles had announced that Jake had been born and when Nat had been sitting on the floor reading when he'd found a snake that bit him. He could remember good and bad memories that he and this tree house had been through together but nothing compared to this.

He began to rummage through a couple of draws until he found it. He pulled out his old writing journal and opened it. Looking over a couple of pages he found a lot of his early songs. Nat laughed when he saw the page that held _'Banana Smoothie.' _He did think it was a bit silly now, but when he first wrote it he only cared about making people smile. "The Silver Boulders forever," he thought smiling. Looking down at his journal again, he closed it. There was nothing in it that described him right now; beaten, heart broken, and pathetic. It reminded him of what his dad always tells him. Even when it looks like there's no hope anywhere good things will come all you have to do is be patient and wait. Well he'd been waiting. He'd waited for years and she did come back but only to break his heart as she had done before. And now what was there to hope for? Wait until it happened again, no way. Nat took his guitar that had been sitting in its case and began to play a few chords.

"Nat! Nat, please come down." "What does she want?" he grumbled. He peered out one of the small windows and looked down to see Rosalina calling him below. He sighed, "When is she going to leave me alone," he thought. Nat could feel anger guide his fingers on the guitar as he began to sing his thoughts aloud; the energy that led him pulsing through his body.

Rosalina POV

Rosalina could hear Nat's voice overhead. She struggled to figure out what he was saying, but then she realized he wasn't saying anything, he was singing. "Love couldn't go any slower when it's going wrong; couldn't go any faster when it's right. Some saw peace with your self is having peace with others. Sisters and Brothers it's a scary world out there. It's a scary world out there, yeah. It's a scary world out there." She could feel tears slip down her face as she did what she thought was right.

Nat POV

Dark clouds were a bad sign the next morning. They hung heavily over the horizon promising showers soon. The farm was quiet as the wind blew gently tossing around the chimes hanging on the porch every few minutes. In the flower box on the window a monarch landed gracefully onto a flower's petals, eager to drink the sweet nectar inside.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Nat grabbed Alex's shirt and pushed him against the wall in the living room. Uncle Miles had gone with Aunt Amy and Jake to the grocery store and Aunt Amy had told him to watch Alex, and he was keeping his promises. "Tell me," Nat pressed. Alex looked down as if there was some other secret he was hoarding, "I don't know," he murmured. Nat clenched his fist, "what do you mean you don't know," he demanded. He stood inches away from Alex's face, eyes staring him down. Alex's gave him a graving look. "Well, Alex?" "Would it have really helped you?" Alex cried out.

Nat let go and allowed him to run off. Was he really about to hurt his own brother? He looked down at his hand that was now red from holding Alex's shirt so tightly. Thomas was right, he had changed.

* * *

_**A.N.- I love "Scary World" from the movie "Mystery Girl" so I had to find a way to put it in when I was writing this.**_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

It seemed Nat stayed in his room almost the entire summer. Nat didn't think it was right to show his face outside. He felt like one of those hideous creatures in horror movies that are locked away for no reason. Well he had a reason and he was one of them now.

"Hey Nat want to go out and play some ball?" Jake threw his basketball at Nat. "I'm grounded for the rest of the month remember?" He threw the ball back to Jake without getting out of his bed. He watched with little sympathy as the 11-year-old's face dropped and he walked down the hall. "Probably to ask Alex," Nat figured. It was all his fault. If it wasn't for him he could go outside and play with Jake; he could be enjoying the summer air but unfortunately that wasn't gonna happen until like a week before they left for Manhattan and he'd have to survive another school year of homework and teachers. He lied down with a sigh, "nothing good ever happens in my life," he thought as he drifted into sleep.

Several nights and days passed with the same patterns and Nat was a bit sick of it. On the day that marked his final week of grounding he decided to improvise and at the perfect time too. Some of his aunt and uncle's friends, Mr. and Mrs. Tyler, were coming over. They were bringing their sons, Chase and Trevor, over with them. Nat was hoping that he could at least be let off enough to talk to them. But what would be the point being confined to the house and video games, television, and everything else with the means of fun strictly off limits, what could they do?

Nat got out of bed. The sun rays beamed through the window but strangely he felt cold. Nat was starting to become a little accustomed to the feeling. It felt hard, cold, and moist inside him and was always there with him. When he would think he was all alone, there it was lingering over him like his shadow against the setting sun. It always gave him this hollow feeling inside, but he just figured it was from being inside for so long giving him the urge to forget about it.

Nat could hear the Tyler's downstairs around 8:00. It was already dark outside. High in the starlit night he could see a Blue Moon. The white circle lit up the sky invitingly and he felt now drawn to leave the house.

"Hi Trevor; hey Chase!" Nat greeted his friends as he walked down the staircase. He could see Trevor was wearing bright yellow rain boots polished with smears of red mud. "Jake why don't you and Trevor go play in your room?" Aunt Amy said smoothing down Jake's hair. Jake ducked away from his mom and was next to Trevor in an instant. "Come on Trevor lets go play," he said grabbing Trevor's arm. "You two be careful," warned Mrs. Tyler. "We will," replied the two 11-year-olds at once as they galloped off. Aunt Amy turned to Nat and Chase. "Miles, Nat has been good couldn't he go outside for a while with Chase?" Uncle Miles gave Nat a daring look. "If they promise to stay in the yard and walk the dogs," he said. For the first time Nat noticed that the Tyler's had brought there brown Labrador, Vixen, with them. He nodded knowing that Uncle Miles would only make his life worse if he disobeyed.

Nat and Chase went out near the tree house. Even though today had brought perfect and endless blue skies, past rains had turned the ground soggy, slick, and sticky beneath their shoes. "Who ever heard of so much rain in the summer?" Nat asked in disgust looking down at his mud smeared sneakers. "Better than fire," Chase corrected. Nat shivered remembering the unstoppable wild fires sweeping through the forests in previous years. "You don't think we'll have any mud slides, do you," Nat asked a little worried of one morning waking up and being buried alive in muck. He pulled on Buddy's leash a little to keep him close to him. "Doubt it," Chase began to climb up the dangling tree house ladder. "At least for these parts," he said in a low voice. "You try'in to scare me Chase," he glanced down at Buddy and Vixen, "you know we'll have a tough time getting these dogs up there and my wrist is still a little banged up so it'll be mostly your job." Chase was nearly hidden in the long branches and leaves of the tree but Nat could still see him grumble something under his breath then jumped off the ledge of the tree house. He gruffly sighed as he hit the ground, "so what do you want to do?"

Chase threw the tennis ball to Buddy and Vixen again. Nat could feel the humid night air on his cheeks. The stars above twinkled and stood in the hundreds. There was a strange calmness over the yard. The only sound was the ball as it thumped against the ground and Vixen and Buddy's gleeful barking. "So if you never liked it here why'd you come?" Chase asked. "I do like it here. I could be back in Manhattan doing a little musical theater, you know, to practice my acting." Chase didn't reply to him. Nat looked up. He could see the Little Dipper drawn in the stars, although he had never been able to find the Big Dipper himself. "We're such city kids," Chase joked, his voice startling Nat. "You know Nat," said Chase, "you don't really act like your old self even if you are grounded." Nat looked over at their dogs. Buddy was chewing on the tennis ball and Vixen was laying her head on his back beginning to doze off. "Well I guess the grounding was the best thing for me. It gave me time to think about the past and my future. It won't be long before we both meet up in college."

"Chase?" Nat turned to where he last saw him, but he wasn't there. "Chase?" "Right here." Chase ran back over from the tree house carrying a small piece of paper. "We're only 16 bro, we're supposed to be enjoying life while we can not just looking ahead into the future," he said. "I know that-" "Chase time to go!" Trevor called out his brother's name as he and Jake raced to his family's car. Chase glanced to Nat. "Sorry about my brother," he said, "he's always that loud." "Its okay; at least your brother doesn't have a set of drums." They laughed. "Well I will see you," Chase yawned, "I will see you later then." Nat looked down at his watch. It was 10:00. "Time sure flies," he thought. "Hey, almost forgot." Nat looked up and saw Chase in front of him again holding the paper he'd seen earlier. "Before you start thinking about the future," Chase mumbled to him, "why don't you take care of the past first, bud." Chase handed him the paper and ran off behind his dad.

Nat looked at the paper. It was a folded piece of notebook paper. The outside was soiled by mud smears and dried water. Finally he opened it, carefully not to rip it, to read.

"Dear Nat,"

When I saw Matthew, Garrison, Terrence, and those other guys standing over you that night I was so scared. The day I saw you at the beach I wasn't looking for guys at all, but it was pretty much Vanessa who pointed you out. After I broke up with Matthew I figured all guys were same and I didn't date anymore, but when I saw you I almost stopped breathing. I didn't know it was you. You didn't look like the same guy that used to follow me around as a kid. I remember the day I first introduced you to Matthew. I was so excited about my future that I forgot the best part of my life then, you. Then that one summer we had a fight and you told me how you felt about me and Matthew laughed. I was so mind blocked then that I couldn't see that you, my friend since forever was also the person I loved dearly. My evil sins took over me then and I will never forgive myself for that and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't either, but just remember this Nathaniel Marvin Wolff no matter where fate takes us in this crazy world you're all I've ever needed.

~Rosalina

Alex POV

"What are you still doing out here?" Nat jumped when he heard Alex's voice behind him. "Don't do that," said Nat. Alex looked at the paper Nat had folded up so he couldn't see. "What's that," he asked nodding at the paper. Alex could clearly see Nat hesitating as if he were thinking of an excuse. "Oh, um, just paper." Nat crumbled it up. "Found it and you know it's wrong to litter, right." Alex tilted his head scanned around the yard. "But I spent hours looking for trash around here and I'm sure I got it all," he said. Alex looked back at Nat. "Nat?" He wasn't there. "Where'd he go," Alex muttered to himself. "Alex come and get ready for bed." Alex's aunt stood in the doorway of the house. He ran for the house only then noticing how tired he was.

Nat crumpled up the note into a ball and threw it in his trash bin. Suddenly nothing in his life seemed easy anymore. When he younger he would have a fight with his best friends and the next day it was like it never happened. He slumped down on his bed and put his hands behind his head and yawned. Part of him wish he would have never seen her, but the other part of him sort of missed her. There was a sort of connection between them. Maybe that's why they were such close friends when they younger. Nat shook his head; it was probably just the kindergarten stage.

1:10 a.m.; Alex opened another crumpled paper ball from Nat's trash bin. He sighed and threw it into the pile he was making. It was only a doodle. This was taking forever! At this rate Nat would wake up and find his trash bin gone and he would be in big trouble. "Paper with mud it," Alex thought. He looked at his makeshift pile. "I have to know what was on that note," he muttered, "it was probably from Rosalina." Alex had had his suspicions since he'd seen how nervous Nat had been. Finally giving up he began dumping the squished papers back into the bin. He didn't even think it would work at all, but he at least wanted to try. Even though he thought it was not his decision to even pry about this. What if he messed up and made his brother's life even worse and as repayment Nat would be sure to make his just as bad. Alex suddenly dropped a paper surprised, it felt different than the others it had this hard crisp feeling. Alex looked at the object on the floor and froze. He had found it.

"Nat! Nat! Nat!" Nat awoke to the sound of Alex's voice. He looked up at his alarm clock, wondering why it didn't go off. It was almost two in the morning. "Alex what do you want? Can't it wait till morning?" Nat pulled up his blanket and jerked his pillow over his head. "Nat it's really important," Alex said in almost a whine. "Can't it wait?" Nat groaned, his voice muffled by his pillow. He felt a tug and again could see Alex hovering over him. "It's about Rosalina." Nat bolted upright at once. "That doesn't concern you," he said coldly, "just forget about it." Alex stared at him. Had he forgotten about everything? "It does concern me. It concerns both of us; she was my friend too." Nat gave him a glaring look, even in the dark it burned through him. After a long moment Nat spoke. "What do you want?" he asked, the strong tone failing in his voice. "I know everything Nat," Alex started, "I saw her the night with the fight; you two at the lake; the kiss." Nat had his healed wrist in his hand slowly turning it as Alex spoke.

"I read the note," Alex admitted guiltily. Nat's eyes grew big with surprise, "you what?! Alex why did you-" "She cares about you," Alex murmured, "she's sorry." "Sorry doesn't cut it!" Nat snapped, keeping his voice low. "She broke my heart once and then came back and did it again. I can't deal with people like that." "But she didn't break your heart this time Nat," Alex said, his voice becoming desperate. "You broke hers. Her ex and his friends may have hurt you but she didn't; not this time. No offence but this time you were the jerk. Instead of yelling at her you should be thanking her; if it weren't for her you would still be down there with your face planted in the dirt."

Nat POV

Alex's words stuck to him as he slept. He might be a rat, but he was right. Why hadn't he seen this before? Eventually Nat dozed off again. That night he felt trapped inside dreams haunted by the past.

"Hey Rosie look!" Nat pointed at a caterpillar on the edge of the sandbox. Rosalina scrambled over next to him sending up white shovelfuls of the glittering sand. "Don't touch it," Rosalina said annoyed, swatting at Nat's hand. Nat drew his hand back feeling hurt. He watched as she gently picked up the dark green creature off the red wood and placed it in her hand. It squirmed around, a bit surprised by the change of a hard scratchy surface to Rosalina's soft hands. She cradled it as if it were a baby and began rocking it as if it would fall under her trance and fall asleep. Nat looked away disappointed that she had taken his as her own and picked up his shovel and bucket and began digging a deeper trench around their castle. Moments later he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Rosalina. She took his hand that was holding his shovel and placed the caterpillar on the back of his hand. The caterpillar's odd feet tickled as it crawled up his arm. "Thank you," he said dropping his bucket and holding their new pet. "Nat?" He looked up, "huh?" "We'll always be friends right?" He smiled at her knowing his answer quickly, "forever and always, I promise."

* * *

**_A.N.- Okay the 'Forever and Always' thing I got from Twilight. There's another Twilight saying in a chapter I haven't posted yet. LOL!_**


	9. Chapter 9

The following days Nat thoughts about Rosalina were stronger than ever. It didn't take long before his aunt and uncle noticed this too, but somehow Alex convinced them. Nat didn't know how he did it, but he didn't really care to ask. He just thanked him when Jake told him. One day Alex asked him to come to the lake with him. Soon after Alex disappeared you'd never guess who he bumped into.

He stared at her, mouth still wide-open. "What are you doing here?" she asked quickly. "I-I thought I had already acknowledged that my aunt and uncle live just up the road. You should know you-you've been there," he stuttered. "Hey!" Nat looked down the bank and could see Vanessa sitting on the dock in her swim suit. Nat waved at her and turned back to Rosalina. "Heard you got grounded." "Yeah and I wonder who's fault that is, eh?" Nat grumbled. "You're not blaming me are you?" Rosalina seemed astonished. "Are you blaming all that on me? I had nothing to do with it. That was all him and his friends-" Suddenly he couldn't help himself and everything began to flow out of him. "Look I know, I read the note. I don't blame you, I know it was their faults, and I'm sorry for how my uncle reacted, and everything," he said gently. She stared at him for seconds then suddenly she grabbed him and embraced him in a hug. "I'm sorry Nat for everything I've ever done to hurt you," she whispered in his ear.

_And I'm free, free fallin', fallin'  
Yeah I'm free, free fallin', fallin'  
_"You've done nothing," he whispered back, "It was all me." "Okay, maybe it was," she admitted. He felt surprise when he wasn't hurt by the harsh word, but she was right and maybe it was a bit silly that it took his 13-year-old brother for him to see that but none of that really mattered now that it was over. "Rosalina?" he asked. She looked up at him, "yes Nat?" "Will we always be friends?" She gave him the smile she always had when they were younger "Forever and always Nat, forever and always."


	10. Chapter 10

"_Free fallin' now I'm, free fallin' now I'm"_

Soon afterwards, at age 15 Alex went off to conquer high school. He became best friends with a guy named Winton and they both tried out and made the school basketball team. Alex had decided to go for what his brother had let go when he and his band got their big brake: team leader. And he succeeded. Alex graduated as a straight A student, bringing home with his diploma a basketball scholarship.

"_Free fallin' now I'm, free fallin', now I'm"  
_Rosalina prepared to leave for Hampton University to study fine and performing arts with Vanessa when that summer was over. When the plane for Hampton left she wasn't on it. Instead she decided that it was time for her, Vanessa, Kayla, and everything that she had always known to part ways and go somewhere new. She had decided what was more important in her life and intertwined her dreams that her whole life she had chased and before long she took a job and when the time came she walked up the stairs to New York University with Nat by her side.

"_Free fallin' now I'm, free fallin' now I'm"_  
After that summer Nat worked harder than ever on his music, new inspiration leading him. In his senior year his band finally got a deal and they were off on a tour. Thomas, Qaasim, and David never split even in the band's ups and downs, but soon after the tour Nat was going to college and they would be left without their leader. After coming to an agreement Thomas and David both enrolled in Columbia University in their hometown and the next fall Qaasim started at Pace University.

_Free fallin' now I'm, free fallin', now I'm"_

9 years later…

The setting sun blazed overhead as the last warm winds of the season tossed around wrappers and unused napkins and paper plates. Ethan and Chipmunk, David and Thomas's dogs, barked in a distance while chasing a Frisbee. In the last rays of light Nat could see Alex and his old friend, Juanita, on a swing set in a distance and further up on a hill Qaasim was playing a noncompetitive game of football with David and Winton. Their voices were out of earshot but Nat could see their strategies. He hadn't been feeling well lately so he didn't participate. He actually wanted to go home early, but he felt that he had been pushed to come.

"Go out further!" He could hear Thomas shouting to Winton but their voices quickly blurred again. "Feeling any better?" Nat was startled by the voice of his girlfriend. He was a little surprise that he hadn't heard her walk up, nether the less of talking so near him he could hear every breath she took. "Fine, I'm just fine," he replied. She gave him a worried look as if she wasn't sure that he was telling the truth. "I'm fine;" he reassured her, "stop worrying so much." He leaned over and touched her hand. She turned and began to pick up the things that had scattered and put them back in the picnic basket. "Alright, suit yourself," she mumbled getting up to return to conversation with her friends. "Wait." He grabbed out for her arm at the last minute. "What?" She seemed a little annoyed about being delayed from her gossip fest, but he had their top story.

"_I wanna glide down over Mull Holland_

_I wanna write her name in the sky."_

He looked around to make sure everyone was still busy and knelt down on his left knee. Swallowing the lump in his throat he dove his hand down one of his pockets and retrieved a lavender box. He could hear her gasp as he forced out his voice. "I love you are the words that can't compare to my feelings for you but the only that I can bring to speak. I knew there was something about you ever since I first saw your big brown eyes for the first time when we were kids. Ever since then when I see you hurt I hurt too. When you giggle I can't help but laugh as well. When you cry I feel the pain and saying yes to me might be the biggest mistake you make in your life, but it would be an even bigger mistake for me not to ask you. I never want to be without you Rosalina Alexandra Tai; will you marry me?"

Rosalina stood over him clearly speechless. Nat could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "She has to say yes," he thought, "she has to." They were both so deeply dazed that they didn't hear Vanessa, Kayla, and Alashawn behind him. "What are two doing?" Vanessa's voice brought Nat back to reality. He tensed when he realized the three girls' eyes were darting from him, to Rosalina, and to the box in his hand. Nat could feel his cheeks turn hot as he realized that he hadn't opened the box yet. He shifted himself uncomfortably hoping she hadn't notice his blunder.

Moments ticked by and Nat was becoming more and more anxious. He could feel all hope melt as Alashawn turned and called to everyone. He gave her an angry look but everyone else in the group remained silent. Nat braced himself for it; this had supposed to be private with no one bothering them. He could already see Thomas and the dogs coming straight for them, there was clearly a look of shock on his face. "Yes!" He looked back at Rosalina. She had a big grin on her face. Nat felt as though his beating heart had stopped dead. Had she said yes? "What?" He was unsure he had heard her correctly, but some how he hoped he had. "Yes Nat; I'm sure," she said her smile becoming bigger. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She really wanted to marry him. Looking into her eyes he could see every thing that she could, she loved him and didn't regret a single bit.

"_I wanna free fall out into nothing_

_I'm gonna leave this world for a while"_

Soft cooling breezes zipped through but even that didn't make his sticky-with-gel hair fall into his eyes. Lily was throwing Cherry Blossoms from a basket everywhere; her big brother, Jake, followed carrying a pillow. "I thought you were going to choose Thomas as your best man," Alex whispered to him. "Why would I not choose my little brother?" His time away from his little brother had drawn him closer to him. They now didn't get much time together with the band and basketball team, but Nat wanted to do one last thing as brothers because he knew it wouldn't be long before they went their separate ways.

"Here she comes!" Josh alerted everyone and turned on his camera. Nat had a strange feeling when he saw almost everyone else in the church doing the same. For the first time in his life he felt camera-shy.

"_Now I'm free; free fallin', fallin'"_

She walked down the aisle. Her hair was tied with a strand of white lace around it. He could feel himself tense as she neared him; she was watching him. His eyes slid on hers and instantly thought about the summer they reconnected like it was just yesterday.

"_Now I'm free; free fallin', fallin'"_

"Nat what are you doing?" Rosalina watched Nat as he ran toward her and at the last second turned and jumped for the rope that hung from the tree. The rope swung him towards the lake and he leaped off. Suddenly he began to grab for the rope but only retrieved air. He hit the ground; he hadn't made it. Rosalina rushed to his side. "You okay?" she asked. Nat mumbled something under his breath and sat up scratching the sand from his hair. "I'm fine," he answered. He got to his feet. "Sorry," he murmured. "What were you thinking?" she snapped, "you could have hurt yourself!" "But I didn't," he replied. "Almost Nat," she retorted, "why did you do that anyways?" His cheeks began to turn red. Rosalina looked at him awkwardly. "Well you don't have to Nat," she said quietly moments later after she understood. "Well I wanted to. I wanted to prove to you that I can do anything," he said. "Yeah, anything to get yourself killed." Rosalina laughed and soon so did Nat. "Could you promise me one thing?" she asked. "Yeah." "Never try to impress me like that again."

She has been my best friend forever and to the end.

"_Now I'm free; free fallin', fallin'!" _

"I do," he said. A big smile appeared on his face knowing his answer all along. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Nat and Rosalina both leaned into a kiss. There was a storm of clapping and cheering. Outside their new puppy that they were given as a present of congratulations, Scamp, barked and bawled happily as if he knew something special was going on. Nat flung his arms around Rosalina, picked her up, and began to spin around in a circle

"_Free fallin', fallin'; free fallin' fallin'; free fallin', fallin'; free fallin' fallin'"_

He put her back down and hugged her. She twined his fingers to hers. Nat leaned to her ear and in the quietest of voice he whispered, "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb."

"_Yeah"_


End file.
